Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Route 248 was shut both ways for an hour Wednesday morning due to a vehicle fire.
Route 248 was closed in both directions just after 6 a.m. Wednesday due to a van that caught fire, the Palmer Police Department is reporting. Palmer police said the van caught fire at the intersection of Route 248 and Newburg Road near the township's municipal building. The owner was driving the vehicle, a 1997 Pontiac, at the time of the fire, police said. There were no injuries. The Palmer Fire Department and Forks Township Fire Department responded and extingushed the fire, police said. The vehicle was towed by Easton Autobody. Route 248 reopened about 7:30 a.m.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer said that Charlie Sandt Jr. could still endanger consumers.
He allegedly duped the Palmer Township Police Department out of $24,000 in an alleged computer scam. Charlie Sandt Jr. also allegedly took about $428 from a Palmer Township resident but didn't deliver a used router the resident had ordered in February. And then he was arraigned in late March for allegedly taking almost $500 from a Glendon couple for a new computer in September 2011 but not delivering it. So when Sandt came before District Judge Jackie Taschner in Palmer for a bail reduction hearing Monday afternoon, the judge wasn't offering much sympathy. Sandt, who waived his preliminary hearing Monday, was denied the bail reduction, Taschner said following Palmer Township's Board of Supervisors meeting Monday night. Sandt, whose last …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Forks Township handled three dwelling fires and a structure fire, according to recent fire department report.
The Forks Township Fire Department got a breather for March compared with the number of fire calls in February. But the department still was busy, handling three dwelling fires and a structure fire. After responding to 62 calls in February, March's workload fell to 22 calls, Fire Chief Chuck Chapman reported. The department handled 29 calls in January and 35 calls in December. For March, the calls took 249.84 manpower hours over 20.31 hours of time and involved the use of 49 units, the report states. The calls included: Forks also handled an odor investigation in Palmer Township and a dwelling fire and a brush fire in Stockertown. For the year, the calls to date are: 75 for Forks Township, four for Stockertown, three for Palmer, two for …
Sunday, May 12, 2013
These are the road projects PennDOT has planned for around Palmer and Forks townships this week.
ROAD NAME: PA 611/North Delaware Avenue BETWEEN: Lafayette Street AND Jacktown Road ROAD NAME: Uhler Road BETWEEN: Kesslersville Road AND Richmond Aston Road ROAD NAME: 25th Street at US 22 BETWEEN: Park Avenue AND Freemansburg Avenue ROAD NAME: PA 33 BETWEEN: Belfast Interchange AND Wind Gap Interchange
Here's a round-up of unusual police news from the Lehigh Valley.
House painter stole Picasso artwork, police say: Prosecutors in New York said an Easton man stole $100,000 worth of artwork—including a piece by Picasso—from an estate he had been hired to paint. The 42-year-old man is charged with grand larceny, money laundering and identity theft in two different New York counties, and faces up to 26 years in prison, according to a news release from the Kings County, N.Y. (Brooklyn) district attorney's office. Babysitters leave child home alone, steal laptop and cash, police say: A South Bethlehem couple who left their 10-month-old daughter in the care of a nephew and his friend returned home to find their infant home alone and that they had been cleaned out of $1,500 cash, a laptop computer and a video …
Friday, May 10, 2013
Shut twice in the past month because of sinkholes, Northwood Avenue in Palmer Township has opened once again.
Northwood Avenue is back in business. Palmer Township Police Chief Larry Palmer said the sinkhole that shut Northwood Avenue, the key road connecting Forks Township to Palmer and Lower Nazareth townships, earlier this week has been repaired and that the road is open again. Palmer said Northwood Avenue opened between late Thursday afternoon and early evening. Frank Cullen, who lives near the sinkhole and has expressed fear for his family's safety, said that the road opened at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. But Cullen still says there are plenty of unresolved issues. He said one issue is vehicle operators such as 18-wheelers and cars violating speed limits. "The pounding, abuse, and compaction these vehicles cause will lead to other incidents," Cullen …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Motor vehicle accident took place at intersection of Routes 33 and 191 in Stockertown Wednesday afternoon.
Two people suffered injuries in a motor vehicle accident in Stockertown Wednesday afternoon, state police said. State Police at Belfast reported that two people were injured when their vehicles collided at 5:09 p.m. on Route 191 where it intersects with Route 33. State Police Investigator Nathan Branosky said that Veronica M. Skidmore, 61, of Saylorsburg was driving a 2011 Suburban Forester when she went through a stop sign on Route 33 and onto Route 191. That's when she struck a 2012 Ford Fusion driven by James A. West, 50, of Nazareth that was southbound on Route 191. West's vehicle was struck on the passenger side, causing Skidmore to travel through the intersection and come to a final rest on the northbound lane of Route 191 while West…
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Traffic expected to increase on Interstate 78 near Easton as Route 22 construction begins.
That's because the commission says it expects traffic to increase on the highway next month when construction begins on the Route 22 bridge in Easton. The roughly $30 million project is expected to take until early 2015, and will involve Route 22 being reduced to one lane during part of that time -- six months this year and another nine months in 2014. Drivers interested in signing up for an E-Z Pass can visit the commission's welcome center on I-78 west Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. You'll need to bring your license, registration and a major credit card. You can sign up for the E-Z Pass system by calling 1-800-872-5061 or visiting www.ezpassdrjtbc.com.
Safety concerns raised as sinkholes open up once again on Northwood Avenue.
Frank Cullen is scared. The Palmer Township resident's driveway is right near a crater that has once again opened up the earth. After a month in whch two sinkholes ripped open Northwood Avenue following a water main break, another returned to wreak havoc on Monday. Cullen sent an email Monday night about the sinkhole after Palmer-Forks Patch.com first reported the sinkhole. "Area news: Washout caused by Easton Sub Water Company's 16-inch Main over one month ago leads to sunken road collapse today. The PennDot estimate is the state-road for a 2-3 day closure. Gas turned off on one residence for fear the Gas Utility could rupture." That news has Cullen's family fearful for its safety. Cullen told the Easton Express-Times that he heard a "…
Utility work begins Monday and runs through Friday.
ROAD NAME: PA 248 BETWEEN: Sales Street AND US 22
Rich
5:17 am on Monday, May 13, 2013
DOES OMG Stand for using God's name with casual disrespect for commercial gain. Hey, maybe Salisbury Patch can do an OMM (Mohammed) column and give disrepected Muslims equal treatment. Then The current OMO administration can lie again blaming that as the vague cause for more killings instead of a planned terrorist attack. more ›